About this book

The Burren in County Clare is slow to give up its secrets. For years Paul Clements has been drawn to its history, mystery and peculiarities. Here he writes absorbingly about the rocks, hills and walls, the colours, the animals, and subjects that excite him such as the exotic wild flowers, ancient ruins, early morning birdsong, and whiskey smells in historic pubs. A hunter and gatherer of information and lore on the Burren, the author ferrets out little known facts and weaves them together. Burren Country is infused with warmth and wit, with the ordinary and the extraordinary. It celebrates outdoor life and uncovers what the Burren means to writers, painters and musicians who know it intimately. It focuses on particularities of place: Poulnabrone dolmen seen through the eyes of photographers; a patch of ground at Gleninagh where he joins a pilgrimage; a tour of the wandering boulders - mysterious glacial erratics; and an epiphany on the summit of Mullaghmore Mountain. Join him in a fascinating odyssey into one of Ireland's magical and unique places.

Contents

Chapter One Westing and ArrivalChapter Two They all have Outrageous NamesChapter Three The Pool of SorrowsChapter Four A Tour through the Paint BoxChapter Five An Aphrodisiac of the SensesChapter Six The Hypnotic Fascination of MullaghmoreChapter Seven Time and TideChapter Eight Grazing around GleninaghChapter Nine Travels of the Wandering RocksChapter Ten A Woman for all SeasonsChapter Eleven The Music of the SeaChapter Twelve The Burren PaintersChapter Thirteen Benign StorytellerChapter Fourteen The Tinker's Heartbreak: Burren RoadsChapter Fifteen Bard of Bell HarbourChapter Sixteen The Weavers of Sheshymore

Epilogue Flirting with the Spirit of the BurrenCodaGlossaryBurren bibliographyGeneral bibliographyWebsitesAcknowledgements

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Biography

Paul Clements, from County Tyrone, lives in Belfast and spends part of each year in the West of Ireland researching, writing, walking, and seeking inspiration in the Burren's limestone hills. His acclaimed "The Height of Nonsense" (2005) was a bestseller. A former BBC journalist, he now contributes to newspapers and magazines and to travel guides to Ireland He is a Fellow of Green-Templeton College, Oxford, and of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.